Health minister pleads for end to cadmium-contaminated jewelry

Sarah Schmidt, Postmedia News10.19.2010

An assortment of children's jewelry recently recalled for high amounts of lead. Wearing a necklace or bracelet with lead is not a health hazard, but sucking on it or swallowing a piece, even with low levels of lead, can wreak havoc on a young brain and cause permanent brain damage with long-term exposure.

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OTTAWA — Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq on Tuesday publicly pleaded with companies to stop making and selling children's jewelry packed with cadmium after private requests to pull pieces known to have "dangerous" levels of the toxic metal were rebuffed.

The government tested 91 random jewelry items for cadmium in the past year, and nine of them contained high levels ranging from nine to 93 per cent cadmium, according to results released to Postmedia News under access-to-information legislation.

Another 19 contained levels greater than Health Canada's threshold of 107 mg/kg or 0.01 per cent cadmium — the first time cadmium was found in the department's annual testing program.

Health Canada has confirmed six of the nine most toxic pieces have not been recalled because the department is powerless to take enforcement action unless another dangerous metal — lead — is present in high enough levels.

And without these powers, Health Canada couldn't convince all the companies to recall them on the grounds that while legal, the items could harm kids who suck or swallow them.

"The use of cadmium in children's jewelry is new and that's why we are asking industry to stop the flow of these potentially dangerous products right now," Aglukkaq told reporters, saying she was speaking as both the health minister and a "concerned parent" of a young child after Health Canada found "dangerous" levels of cadmium in some jewelry pieces during routine product testing.

Unlike lead, which is banned in children's jewelry in Canada at levels exceeding 600 milligrams per kilogram or 0.06 per cent of the total weight, there is no set limit for cadmium in kids' jewelry. Further, there is no general provision of Canada's current product safety law that gives the minister power to pull harmful products in the absence of specific regulations.

"In some of the products, we've seen it up to 80 and 90 per cent pure cadmium. They're simply substituting lead, one dangerous product, with one that's actually more dangerous," Paul Glover, head of Health Canada's healthy environments and consumer safety branch, told reporters.

In these individual cases, Glover said Health Canada tries to convince an importer, distributor or retailer to yank their product, meaning it's "quite possible" the items remain in the market.

"We do work with them on a voluntary basis to obtain their co-operation to remove the product and we continue to do that and we see mixed results, frankly," said Glover.

He added that if industry ignores Tuesday's plea to stop importing and selling kids' jewelry with cadmium, the government can enact regulations to cap the amount of cadmium allowed in the product, but warned that process usually takes 18 months to enact.

Aglukkaq said the fastest way to empower Health Canada to force companies to pull cadmium-laced kids' jewelry from the market is through an updated consumer product law. The bill, currently being debate in Parliament, includes a general prohibition that says no company can make or sell products for children that have hazardous levels of a given metal or chemical, so the minister could order mandatory recalls in the absence of cadmium regulations.

In the meantime, "we're hoping that industry does the right thing," said Glover.

"In a sense this is a common sense issue. Cadmium, OK, you need it in a battery, we understand that, but it doesn't belong in children's jewelry. The science is there, it makes people sick."

Terrance Oakey, a vice-president of the Retail Council of Canada, said "given the importance that the retail sector places on the health and safety of Canadians, (the council) is working with our members and their suppliers to ensure compliance with this voluntary action initiated by Health Canada regarding children's jewelry made with the intentional use of cadmium or cadmium-containing materials."

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Here is a list of the most toxic pieces found during Health Canada testing, released to Postmedia News under access-to-information provisions, that have not been recalled.

- Lady bug (metal): 84 per cent cadmium and 0.017 per cent lead

- Ballerina slipper pendant: 28 per cent cadmium and 0.018 per cent lead

- Smiley face charm: 23 per cent cadmium

- Metal heart pendant: 13 per cent cadmium and 0.04 per cent lead

- Large heart pendant: 13 per cent cadmium and 0.02 per cent lead

- Cat earrings: nine per cent cadmium

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